SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer provides extensive adaptability to augment the solution as per your requirements. In this blog, I share my experiences and understanding of extensibility in SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer (C4C), some use cases, and a list of available tools to develop extensions. I also discuss the importance of the HANA Cloud Platform in building unique side-by-side extensions for SAP Hybris C4C.

Extensibility in CRM Solutions

Today, customers demand unparalleled experiences at every touch point. Such experiences can be achieved only when their CRM solution can adapt to their business needs. Be it for UI adaptations or defining the user interface and data model, extensibility is a crucial feature in any CRM solution. In this respect, SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer, scores top marks. Let me tell you how.

The SAP Hybris C4C solution can adapt to your business needs to create attractive and seamlessly integrated extensions. This can be easily achieved by leveraging available OData APIs, using key user tools for customization, and enabling mash-ups, integrations, and platform extensions.

Personalization and Adaptability

SAP Hybris C4C customers have several options to make this solution their own and adapt it to the intricacies of their organization and business processes.

Personalize

Adapt

Used by individual end user

Can only be used by Admin who can then “Apply to All” users

Allows personalization of the SAP solution with your preferences regarding system settings, navigation settings, content, and layout settings of a screen

The Company Setting will apply to all users.

Company Branding Image

The background, Header bar, and Logo can be changed These changes will be applied to all users

Allows “Add/Create Extension Fields” and the newly created field can be configured or used in the below-mentioned objects using Field

Definition:

Add into Form template

Reporting

Enterprise Search

Extension Scenario

Services (Web Services)

OData Services

Additional Business Content

Change Language of Screen Text

Allows you to “Add New Section” under any Tab

Allows you to “Copy an Existing Section”

Allows you to “Add New Tab” and “Drag and Drop” an element into that newly created tab

Edit Smartphone Layout

New Page Layout

Change will be applied only to the new page layout.

Edit Page Layout

Change will be applied only to the assigned page layout

Assign Page Layout

Assign New Page layout based on Business Object and Instance type with specific business role.

Delete Page Layout

When this option is selected, the system will ask the user their choice of page layout to be permanently deleted.

In SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer, you can extend objects via 2 options:

KUT (Key User Tool) Adapt mode

SAP Cloud Application Studio (SDK)

KUT Adapt Mode:

In this mode, you can add extension fields, add the same extension fields into different screens, scenarios, standard web APIs, form templates, data sources, and reports and also add new tabs (facets), section groups, and drag and drop fields into that new facet.

These options can be used when the company wants to add fields/elements without any business logic and still wants it to be visible to the end user.

Use Case: If any customer wants to integrate C4C with any third-party system and they need to add some fields relating to Account, Lead, Opportunity, etc., without any business logic, the data will be transmitted from the third party to C4C via standard web APIs/OData. Otherwise, the user would need to manually enter values for those fields.

SAP Cloud Application Studio:

Under the Adapt option, you can add extension fields, integrate them with objects, and use those fields without business logic. However with business logic, through SDK, you can add extension standard objects, enhance the screen, add those fields into scenarios, add them into standard web APIs in the form of a template.

Business Object Extension: You can create business object extensions to enhance SAP standard business objects by adding extension fields to them. You can also add extensions to forms, web APIs, screens, data sources, and search categories.

Embedded Component: An embedded component is reusable user interface component that we can add to other floor plans. You can add an embedded component under the New Facet/Tab or under the standard placeholder available in your screen.

Enhancement Implementation: You can create an enhancement implementation of SAP enhancement options to allow the customer to apply business rules that meet specific requirements.

Process Extension Scenario: You can create a process extension scenario to link business contexts to other related business contexts. You can then use the scenario annotation to specify that an extension field is available for all the business contexts in the scenario.

Reference to Customer Specific Fields: You can use this option if a customer has created a few KUT fields and now needs to add some logic or use those fields in a script file via SDK.

Use Case: If any customer wants to integrate C4C with any third-party system and they need to add some fields or the Custom Facet/Tab on Account, Lead, Opportunity, Ticket, etc. with business logic, then data will be transferred from the third-party system to C4C and vice versa via standard/custom web APIs/oData.

Platform Architecture of SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer

SAP Hybris C4C runs on its own platform which makes uses of HANA DB, services and also can make use of the HCP services via integration as side by side extension scenario.

SAP HANA Cloud Platform is one such magic wand that can help you quickly build, extend, and integrate modern, mobile-capable apps to meet your business needs.

The SAP HANA Cloud Platform, portal service has out-of-the-box integration to SAP Hybris C4C and is used by customers to build self-service customer support sites and partner portals. Such a Cloud portal enables you to securely extend the reach of your SAP Hybris C4C application. You can enable navigation, branding-theming, personalization, content exchange, site lifecycle, role-based authorization, and social collaboration in such portals.

The following are some of the SAP HANA Cloud Platform extension apps for SAP Hybris C4C:

Process Extensions: UI remains available for use in C4C, but some processes and logic are run on HCP in the background, leveraging HCP services (using SAP HANA/Analytics, for example)

Mashups: Major functionality is built on HCP, including business logic and UI, but is seamlessly embedded into existing C4C (feels like native theming)

New Extension Solution: C4C serves as the “back end.” New apps and UI are built on HCP (user does not recognize the new solution as C4C: for example, support site, partner portal/self-service portal)

Conclusion

The SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer solution provides a perfect framework for personalization, customization, and development. There is a constant inflow of abundant application extensions on the SAP HANA Cloud Platform. SAP is also working to build a successful application extensions ecosystem across its Customer Engagement and Commerce portfolio.

So, strike while the iron is hot and widen your customer-centric business in the cloud.

8 Comments

Can you please verify the comment in this blog ‘SAP Hybris C4C runs on top of the SAP HANA Cloud Platform (HCP). Besides its own platform for Admin Tools, C4C offers overall HCP Services as Application Bundles to customers.’

Is this an official statement released by SAP Hybris C4C Product Team.

Thanks for this blog detailing the extensiblity features in SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer.

However I would like to highlight that the statement ‘SAP Hybris C4C runs on top of HCP’ is not completely valid. SAP Hybris C4C runs on its own platform which makes uses of HANA DB, services and also can make use of the HCP services via integration as side by side extension scenarios as explained in your blog. For the consumers, it would not make much differences as far as they can consume the services and capabilities of the platform.